Talent Show 2010

It was touch and go for this year's talent show when snow arrived the day before our scheduled performance. We didn't know whether we would have school on Friday or not. As it turned out, we had a one-hour delay, and school started at 9:30am. We had barely enough time to set up and get the show started by 10:30. We were off and running. Our trusty MC's, Alyssa and Miles, did a great job of keeping us on schedule. With a noon dismissal looming in the distance, we wanted to be sure to fit in every act. Here, you can see Nick playing his own beautiful arrangement for guitar of Fields of Gold by Sting.







The swim team performed a special Dry Land Tutorial. Freshmen, Isabella and Elisabeth sang a beautiful song.













Miles, Marnie, and Mariah did the Hippo Song, complete with helium balloons.









Emma and Lenore serenaded Willy. Daniel sang an a cappella version of a Pete Seeger song.





The grand finale was a musical revue by a large group of seniors who were led by Daniel, Joseph, Joe, and Neal. The talent was impressive (these were just some of the highlights) and the show ended at 12:15. We have great hope for our Cabaret, which is scheduled for March 26th. Be sure to mark your calendars!

Thursday, December 15, 2010 (snow day!)

This year's dance concert was a triumph! The theme was Change, Transformation, and Impermanence. I believe these pictures say it all. Enjoy!
















































































During this gray day filled with ice and snow, I hope our students are getting some well-earned rest. I do hope to see them tomorrow for our final half-day before vacation...and the talent show! Hopefully, I will have more photos to share.

The Aussies are here!

Two high school basketball teams are visiting CFS from Australia today and tomorrow. They arrived at CFS yesterday evening after attending the women's basketball game at NC State. Our families provided a wonderful potluck dinner for the group. Here, you can see some of the Australian players with our students. This afternoon (Monday), we will host two basketball games against the Australian teams. Our girl's varsity team will play at 4:00 and the boys will play at 5:30. All are invited to come out to cheer all of the teams--our visitors as well as our own.

Week of December 6, 2010

Having finished our Upper School Service Days and enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving vacation, we have settled back into school life. Above, you can see some work that was just completed by Amelia's Clay and Sculpture students. On Friday, they welcomed little ones from Campus Early School to help them make gifts for their parents. It was a wonderful morning filled with Upper Schoolers and Early Schoolers working together. Also on Friday, Bryce welcomed Duke grad student Kara Leimberger to his Human Evolution class (along with Frances's Advanced Biology class) to share her research on Brown Mouse Lemurs. Kara walked our students through her research process, from her beginning questions to her methods to her results. This truly was a lesson in the research process, with fascinating information about Madagascar and the brown mouse lemur.

Here, you can see Bob challenging his Physics students to work through a problem.

Amelia is helping students with their clay. Carson and Lucas work on the potters wheel. Below, Jon took his Geography class outside to talk about the water content in the soil. As the core of our freshman curriculum, all freshmen take Foundations of Literature, Geography, and Biology. Each term their studies focus on a joint theme. In the fall, their theme was water. For the winter term, they are focusing on land. In Foundations right now, they are reading Of Mice and Men.

IMPORTANT SCHEDULE CHANGE

The Clerks Committee (student government) in cooperation with the Environmental Club held a town meeting with all students last week to discuss stewardship around campus. Students are working to help other students to remember to take ownership of our campus. With this in mind, we have made a small switch in our schedule. We have moved the 10-minute clean-up time from 3:05 to 2:15 on Monday and Wednesday. 6th period will now follow the clean-up time, which means that 6th period will now end at 3:15 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (No change for Friday). Our school day has always ended at 3:15, so the exact end of the day has not changed. We have merely adjusted the schedule.

SENIOR FORUM

Philip Gary's Senior Forum class traveled to Washington, DC, on November 19th. With Philip's expert guidance, this class is studying entrepreneurship and sustainability. Their first stop was to visit Peace Corps Headquarters. Members of the Peace Corps staff shared PC philosophies and goals with the group. Their second stop was with Creative Associates, a highly respected social consulting firm started by two very progressive and socially committeed women to address the educational, health and developing needs in developing societies. The firm's Chief of Staff discussed the firm's ongoing project in Colombia, where they are helping farmers substitute high value cash crops in place of coca...the plant which is used to produce cocaine. The last visit was to Louis Berger and Associates, a mega consulting firm. The Chief Ethics Officer discussed the relationship of the firm to the communities in which it serves, its massive projects in physical development, its work to support the US commitments in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and its vigilance in support of ethical practices both in the US and abroad. After a very full day, the group went to Capitol Hill for a pizza dinner with Washington CFS alumni.

US DANCE CONCERT

Our annual dance concert, under the leadership of Annie Dwyer, will be presented on Thursday and Friday, December 9 and 10 at 8pm in the Center. There will be an open dress rehearsal on Wednesday at 7:30pm. The dancers will also do a show for Lower and Middle School students Tuesday afternoon. The theme for this year's concert is Change and Impermanence. Ten of our students are choreographing dances along with CFS grad, Leah Wilkes, and Killian Manning.